Looking In
by Light Catastrophe
Summary: As in all clichéd beginnings, it was a dark and stormy night when Naruto came across the home of Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto was lost. Sasuke took him in. They had sex. Naruto left. That was that. So they thought. mpreg, yaoi, angst, AU, sasunaru
1. Part 1

Looking In

**Looking** _In_

**B**_y_ L**i**_g_h**t** _C_a**t**_a_s**t**_r_o**p**_h_e

_Part_ **One**

Rating: T

**Pairings:** SasuNaru, slight KakaIru

War_nings__: _yaoi, slash, vague homosexual sex, mpreg, angst

Disclaimer: Maybe in some way I am distantly related to the creator of Naruto. But I doubt it so please don't sue me. I only own the messed up plotline for this story.

**Edit:** I've gone through this story and edited all the small typos and added in small details. Enjoy.

**Naruto's point of view**

_**x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x**_

It was a dark and stormy night. Yes, I know, a most cliché way to begin a story, but that is really how it began. That night was the night my life began – and so did the life of another. But let's start at the beginning.

I was an ordinary kid. Okay, well, I was as normal as I could be figuring that I was the city's outcast. It had something to do with my mom. Supposedly, she went crazy and killed a bunch of people. I don't really know. I wasn't there. The town's people didn't care though. They blamed me just because I have her blood.

For as long as I could remember, I had always been alone. I mean, Iruka was there. He had pretty much raised me after my mom disappeared. But I felt like an obligation. No one deserves to feel that way. So, one night when he was out, I wrote a note and left.

The streets became my home. I honestly don't know how long I was out there. I froze - to a point near death - every night. Even the hobos refused to share their fire with me. No one wanted anything to do with me. I scrounged for food. Sometimes, in order to keep myself from starving, I stole, even though it went against everything good I had ever been taught. One day when I walked by a store window, I stared at my reflection. It was like looking at someone I had only just seen for the first time. My hair was halfway down my back and uncut, a dirty blonde color, instead of the golden blonde it used to be. My clothes, tattered and worn, were now about five sizes too big. And my eyes... their vibrant blue color was now a hazy grey.

That night, I have no idea how I ended up in front of his house. The sky was weeping. Maybe it was trying to tell me something. Rain beat on me in heavy torrents, making me shiver, but I didn't care - it was the first shower I'd had in weeks.

Suddenly, music filled my ears - beautiful music that made me want to sob and laugh at the same time. I was floating on a cloud of emotions. Emotions. I was _feeling_ something.

My feet moved forward on their own accord, eager to hear more. I can't exactly say that my mind was really protesting all that much, though. I wanted to see what kind of god could be making such beautiful music. Nose pressed up to the glass, trying to see as much as I could through the water streaming down window, I could just make out the hazy outline of someone's back and their hair, which stuck out in the back like a duck's. That thought made me laugh.

Then the music stopped and he turned toward me. I knew exactly who he was. Sasuke Uchiha. Child prodigy. Even _I_ knew that. Rumor has it that he started playing piano even before he could talk. He had an older brother who murdered his entire family. Despite what people said about him being stand-off-ish (which he had every right to be), thousands of people traveled to see him in concert every year. I had never been to one, but his face was everywhere: tabloids, books, TV. But apparently, no one knew where he lived. Ha.

He was walking towards me. I knew I should run, but my damned feet refused to move. His hands would have been pressed up against mine were it not for the pane of glass separating us. Abruptly, the window opened and I was sent sprawling across his floor.

"What are you doing?"

I answered that I had no idea. He nodded, shutting the window and went back to the huge grand piano. For some reason, there, sitting, dripping water all over his carpet, I was more scared than I ever had been in all of my life. I wasn't scared because I was in the house of a complete stranger, nor was I afraid of _him_. No, I was afraid that he would recognize me and throw me out of his house.

He didn't, though. He just started playing again. I wondered if he knew the effect he had on people. He probably did. He looked like one of those egotistical kinds of people. I stared at him while he played. It then occurred to me that he wasn't playing the music.

He _was_ the music.

And then he stopped, got up and stalked out of the room. I wasn't quite sure what to do. He hadn't told me to leave, but I got up and followed. He was in the kitchen, apparently trying to cook something, and, if I do say so myself, failing horribly. I giggled and he turned to look at me with something akin to... a death glare. "You think you can do better?"

"Of course," was my curt reply. I left out the fact that I could only cook ramen. When I did have "normal" food, it was the only thing I felt like eating.

He told me to go right ahead. I set to work, but he still just stood there with a smirk on his face. "How old are you?" he asked. I said that I was eighteen and he laughed, saying that I didn't look a day over twelve. I glared at him, threatening him with a spoon. "You're cute when you're angry," and with that, he traipsed out of the room like he was King of the World.

The house was huge. It took me an eternity to find him after the ramen was ready. He was sitting in front of a computer, a severe expression on his face, biting his lip. I fought back a laugh and told him it was ready.

My ramen was gone before he even had the chance to take a bite. He asked when I had last eaten a decent meal. I said I couldn't remember. A series of questions ensued: How long had I been homeless? Did I have parents? Did I have a place to stay? I don't know. No. No. Then he asked another question. What is your name? I sighed. "I can't tell you." If I told him, he'd kick me out for sure.

To my surprise, he let it go. "Do you want to stay with me? I have a multitude of bedrooms. At least for tonight? It's still pouring outside."

I nodded, though I was still trying to figure out why he was being so nice. Maybe he was just lonely.

He led me through the house and upstairs to a large spare bedroom. He looked at me, eyeing my clothes, and asked if I would want anything else to wear. While I didn't feel like intruding further, I also didn't want to crawl into that lovely bed with my rags on. A minute or two later, he came back and handed me a pair of silk pajamas, underwear, and an outfit for the next day. After he left, I slipped on the pajamas, reveling in the feel of the smooth fabric against my skin. I soon fell asleep in the too-comfortable bed.

It was after midnight according to the clock that sat on the bedside table when I heard a faint squeak in the floor, causing me to bolt upright. I stared into his face, rubbing sleep from my eyes. "Sasuke?" It was the first time I said his name, but he didn't even question it. Instead, he pressed his lips hungrily against mine, pushing me back onto the bed. My eyes widened. I didn't know what he was doing. Was he sleep walking? He pulled back, the look in his eyes telling me that he was very much awake. I gulped.

"Please," he breathed out. "I don't know what you did to me, but I need you."

Somehow, I knew exactly what he was talking about. So, I nodded and my lips were once again his.

I remember everything about that night: every kiss, every touch, every breath. I was scared. I had never done anything like this before. It was my first; _he_ was my first. But I wouldn't have had it any other way.

When he plunged deep inside of me, I screamed in agony, then in pleasure. Each thrust hit my sweet spot, bringing me closer and closer to the edge of insanity; to the edge of heaven. When he came inside of me, I felt more complete than I ever had before.

I woke slowly the next morning. It always took me forever to wake up. He asked me the question before my mind was functioning properly. "What's your name?"

"Naruto."

The covers were yanked off, exposing my naked body to the cold, and the glare of a very angry Uchiha. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere!" he yelled. "You are nothing but a stupid whore! You used me! Get the hell out of my house!"

Tears pooled around my eyes and streamed down my face. As I pulled on the clothes nearest to me (which were the clothes he had given me the night before), I refrained from telling him so much. Like, the fact that he was my first. I had willingly given him my virginity and he had shoved it back into my face. I didn't remind him that he was the one who had dragged me into his house and came to me in the middle of the night.

It wasn't supposed to hurt this badly. Why was my heart breaking? I should have known this was going to happen. I should have _known_. I wanted him to be different. I wanted him to find out that I wasn't what everyone said I was. But no, instead he turned out to be just like everyone else.

As I ran from the mansion, a sharp pain in my backside, a sad song flowed from within the depths of the house.

I couldn't stop the tears.

The next two months on the streets were the worst I ever spent. Every time I saw his picture, I would momentarily stop breathing and my heart would speed up. I couldn't understand. Why did I feel this way about someone like him; someone who broke me so completely?

Then I started throwing up every morning, but I was better by noon or so. What was happening? Finally, after weeks of this, I gave in and went to one of those crisis clinics. Luckily for me, no one seemed to notice and/or recognize me. Naruto had disappeared from the face of the Earth. Who was I? I was nobody. I was invisible. I was scared to death.

After what seemed close to forever, the nurse called out the name I'd given her (an alias, just to be safe). There was a nurse already sitting in the room where I was supposed to go. She smiled and asked a few questions. I told her I woke with cramps and nausea every morning. She poked and prodded around, mostly around my mid-section. Biting her lip, she left the room in search of the doctor.

The doctor who came back was a slender, pretty, middle-aged lady. She looked over the page the nurse had filled out, and then took her turn at poking and prodding. "Will you run and get me a pregnancy test?" she asked the nurse. She nodded and walked off.

"Pregnancy test?" I asked, astounded. The doctor nodded. "What? How? I'm a guy." I felt tears coming.

"I don't know. And it's not for certain. I'm just checking." The nurse came back a moment later and placed something in the doctor's hand who in turn placed it in mine. "Just follow the directions on the box. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Uncertainly, I read the instructions and did as directed. It was rather uncomfortable.

True to her word, the doctor came back and snatched the test from my hands. A look came across her face and I felt tears begin to cloud my vision. "I hate to tell you this, but... you're pregnant." My entire body was wracked with sobs. She walked over and enclosed me in a tight embrace. "Do you know anyone who would know how this could happen?"

I searched my mind. Someone. Anyone... Iruka. I managed to nod and say that yes, I did. Then I asked if there was any way the test could be wrong. "Yes, but I doubt it is."

She bid me goodbye and I made my way out of the clinic. I tried to slow my tears so I didn't look like shit when I arrived at Iruka's. No such luck.

I knew it wasn't right to be coming back there - after all, I had left - but I had nowhere else to go and I had to talk with him.

Rapping lightly on the door, I wiped away my tears, and waited. After a minute or so, he opened the door. I think it took him a moment to realize who I was. "Naruto?" He pulled me into his arms before I even had the chance to nod. Words spilled from his lips. "Where have you been? I thought you were dead! What happened? Oh, never mind. Come in."

He dragged me into the house and plopped me down in a chair at the kitchen table where I broke down and told him I was sorry; I had run away because I didn't want to be a burden to him. He reached over the table, touched my arm, and said it was alright. It didn't matter. I was back now. Then he asked me what was wrong.

"I'm pregnant," I managed to choke out.

His eyes widened (I can still remember the expression on his face) and for a moment, he said nothing. Then, "Your mother wasn't exactly human." I knew the rumors: people said she was possessed by something. Maybe that was truer than I thought. "She might have passed some of her... traits onto you."

I moped around his house for a couple of days before he cornered me, shoved money in my hands, and told me to go buy some clothes before I showed too much. I replied that I couldn't go. People would know me. He said that the town believed I was dead and that if he barely recognized me, no one else would. Besides, I could come across as a girl if I wanted to.

He helped me wash up and braided my long hair before shoving me out the door.

I spent the day shopping and when I came home, I was exhausted. I sat down at the table where he placed a plate with a lot of green things in front of me. "No more ramen. It's not good for the baby." I groaned. How could I live without ramen?

Slowly, but surely, I began to forget Sasuke. Well, not _forget_ exactly, but I realized that he wasn't coming back. I learned to deal, no matter how much it hurt. And it hurt a lot. I was starting to figure out that maybe the reason it hurt that way whenever I saw his face on the media was because maybe, just maybe, I fell in love with him that night. There was no other explanation. I don't know how, but it happened. He broke my heart. And, despite the love I felt for him, I would have to raise this baby on my own.

Shortly after I started living with Iruka again, I started to show. It was an odd feeling to be filled with another life, but I loved it, even if it did give me cramps, hurt my feet, and gave me very strange cravings.

I went into town almost every day, despite my obvious condition. Iruka had been right: no one seemed to recognize me.

It was a sunny day in my sixth month. I was searching for clothes that would fit me in a clearance rack on the sidewalk outside a maternity store. The voice came from behind me. I had never forgotten the sweet sound of that voice. He wore sunglasses, a hat, and a sweatshirt, probably to hide from the mob. He was talking to someone else: a short, red-haired kid. I looked down at their hands, which were tightly entwined together, and a single tear dripped from my face. Suddenly, he looked up and I know he saw me. "Naruto?" I dropped what I was holding and ran - or rather, waddled, - away as fast as I could. By the tears dripping from my face, I could tell I wasn't as over him as I thought I was.

I hate to admit it, but every part of me wanted him to run after me. But he didn't. How stupid of me. He probably never even thought of me after that night. He had a boyfriend now.

I contemplated killing myself. I even went so far as to hold a knife to my throat before I realized it wouldn't be just me I was killing.

Iruka came home late that night. He had someone else behind him. "Naruto?" he asked, most likely looking at my red eyes and tear-splotched face. "Naruto, what happened?" he came over and wrapped me up in his arms.

"I-I saw him," I sobbed.

He looked up at the other man and said, "Maybe you should go, Kakashi. I'll call you tomorrow."

Even though I had been staying with him for four months, I still hadn't told Iruka who the father was. He never asked. Must have figured it was none of his business. He asked me who I saw.

"Sasuke."

"Sasuke? Maybe you should tell me what happened."

I don't know what exactly he was asking for, but I told him everything. Through the entire thing, he didn't say a word and I was glad. I might have stopped if he had.

He remained silent for a few minutes after I finished as though trying to think of something to say. "He called you a whore?" I nodded. He contemplated some more. "You should go to bed, Naruto. You've had a long day."

I got up, but suddenly remembered something. "Who was that guy?"

Iruka gave me this huge grin that seemed to light up his whole face. "That's Kakashi. He's my boyfriend."

Somewhere, through all my happiness for him, I felt a pang of jealousy.

For the next few weeks, I didn't step foot outside the house - partly because my feet hurt, mostly because I didn't want to see _him_ again. Then, one day when Iruka was at work, I heard a persistent banging on the door. Annoyed, I dragged myself off the recliner and opened the door. Big mistake. There, standing in all his glory, was Sasuke Uchiha.

I slammed the door in his face.

The banging continued and so did the yells of "Naruto, open the goddamn door!"

"NO, go away! I don't want to talk to you. Ever. So just leave!" But he wouldn't. I opened the door just simply because he was giving me a migraine. "What?!" I snapped.

"I want to know why you were shopping at a maternity store." Blunt, wasn't he?

I looked down to my swollen belly and felt hot tears fall from my eyes. I asked him in a voice just above a whisper if he would just please go away.

Lifting my chin, he held my gaze. "No." And then his eyes drifted downward to where mine had just been. "So why were you?"

I slapped his hand away. My voice was loud again this time. "Because I'm pregnant! With _your_ child. Do I have to spell it out for you? P-r-e-g-n-a-n-t. Now just leave. You've hurt me enough as it is." He shook his head. "Listen! I don't know how you found me, but I don't need you and I sure as hell don't need your pity!"

He told me it was Iruka. Iruka had tracked him down and said to come find me.

Right then, I hated everything: Sasuke, Iruka, the townspeople, my mother. I hated them all. I wanted to leave and never come back. How could Iruka do that to me?

"_Leave_!" I screamed.

"I thought about you every day, Naruto. I'm sorry I said all those horrible things-"

"Lies!" I interrupted. "I don't want to hear them. Go back to your boyfriend!" I hissed. "Besides I'm nothing but a _stupid_ whore!" I slammed the door again. This time there was no more banging.

That night I packed my things in a duffle bag and made my way to the bus station. I was leaving, going somewhere, _anywhere_, but where I was. I left on the first bus to leave the station, not even knowing my destination.

"Where are you going?" asked the lady next to me, arousing me from the state of half-sleep I found myself in. I told her I didn't know. I was just getting away. "A nice young boy have to run away when he's expecting? What a shame."

I stared at her wide-eyed as I realized what she had just said. She knew I was boy. She knew I was pregnant. "Um..."

"Why don't you come stay with me and my grand-daughter? I'm just on my way back home."

"That would be imposing. I'm sorry, but I can't do that to you. Sorry."

"Nonsense," she scoffed. "You would just end up on the streets or in some shelter. Besides we need a change around the house. If you won't do it for yourself, at least think of your baby." Realizing she wouldn't let it go, I gave in. She smiled and told me to get some rest. We wouldn't be arriving till late afternoon the next day.

I woke to the feeling of my baby kicking. It hurt like hell, but I clenched my teeth to keep from making a noise. The lady opened her eyes and gave me a worried look. She asked me if I was alright. "Yes," I replied. "He's kicking." Call it motherly instinct or whatever you want, but somehow I just knew that my baby was a boy.

"It's the most amazing feeling in the world to have a life within you."

I couldn't argue. In spite of the fact that I had been hurt, I felt more alive than I ever had before in my life. "I don't know your name."

"Katherine," she said. "What's yours?"

I almost lied to her. Almost. The last time I told someone my name, they had turned their back to me and almost killed me from a broken heart. "Naruto." I turned my gaze to outside, pressing my face against the glass. It was raining outside in the dark. With a sharp pain in my chest, I pulled back, sighing. She asked if I wanted to talk about it. I didn't really, but I did anyways. "It was all a mistake. I lived on the streets and I came across his house, drawn in by the beautiful music. He found me, pulled me inside. One thing led to another and we ended up having..." I bit back a sob. "In the morning, he asked me my name. Without thinking, I told him. He called me a whore and kicked me out of his house. I found out sometime later that I was pregnant."

She wrapped her arms around me and held me close as I started shaking horribly. The first thing that came to her mind was the same as the first thing that had come to Iruka's. "He called you a whore?"

"I wasn't! I swear! I-I gave him my virginity." She nodded and I drifted back off into sleep.

When I woke again, the sun was out and the rain had disappeared. I rubbed my eyes and looked to Katherine. I asked her where we were and she told me we'd be in her town in two hours. "Why did he freak out when you told him your name?" she asked.

_I _freaked out. I didn't know what to do. Would she hate me too if she found out? "I'm not exactly popular in my town. My mom... she killed a lot of people. I get blamed."

She nodded and that was that.

A few hours later we were dropped off at a bus station outside a small country town. It was picture perfect. Exactly the place I had always wanted to live. Katherine said she usually just walked home (certainly, the town was small enough, you could walk just about anywhere), but since I was along, she would call her grand-daughter. Sometime later a loud, old truck pulled up and a girl with short, cropped, dyed-pink hair hopped out. She bounced up to me and held out her hand. "I'm Sakura. What's your name?"

The time I spent with the two of them was wonderful. Their town was much smaller than mine and I came to know most of its inhabitants. None of them seemed to care one little bit that I was a boy and pregnant. It was like they thought they had seen it all. Or they hadn't seen enough. Depends on how you look at it. I decided that after I had my baby, I would stay in the town, get a job, and find my own place to live. I didn't want my boy to grow up like I did. I presented the idea to Katherine and Sakura one evening and they stated dancing and laughing. When they finally calmed down enough, the two said it was a brilliant idea, but they would love it if I would still live with them. Once again, I gave in (how can two girls affect me so?), but still insisted on getting a job. This thrilled Sakura because she would get to baby-sit.

I was due any day. Sakura and I were sitting on the couch, watching TV. My feet were propped up because of my swollen ankles. A commercial came on. It was an ad for Sasuke's upcoming concert. She squealed with delight ("Isn't he _dreamy_?") and I paled, my stomach going in knots. The baby kicked and I cringed. He knew who his father was. Somehow. "Are you alright, Naru-chan?" Sakura asked, worriedly. Katherine gave me a knowing look from the kitchen.

That night I had my first contraction. I doubled over when getting into my pajamas and screamed for help. Katherine ran to my aid and told Sakura to call for the doctor. The town wasn't big enough for a hospital, but they had a doctor who had agreed to help. Sakura came back with a damp rag which she placed on my forehead. I leaned back against the pillows of the bed Katherine had placed me on. (She could pick me up. Amazing. I still weighed less than her even when pregnant.)

I wondered what Sasuke was doing.

I don't remember much of what happened after the doctor arrived. I was in a haze of drugs and pain. I had never been through anything that painful in my entire life.

Hours and hours, maybe _days_, later, it was finally over. My mind barely had time to process that I had "a beautiful baby boy" (mother's instinct?) before falling into an exhausted sleep.

According to Sakura, I woke up two days after giving birth. Limping into the kitchen, I found Katherine holding my son delicately and feeding him with a bottle. She looked up at me and smiled, asking if I wanted to hold him.

The first time I held him, I was afraid I was going to break him. He was so small and... beautiful. I don't know how else to describe it. He had his father's dark hair and his eyes were the bright blue that mine had once been. I started crying.

"Do you have a name for him?" she asked. I had never really thought about it.

He reminded me of everything good and beautiful in the world: the sky and the ocean, the smell of flowers on a new spring day, music, heaven, sunsets, and so much more. What could possibly fit all of that? Destiny.

"Destin."

"As in 'Destiny'?" Katherine asked. I nodded. "It's perfect."

_**x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x**_

**Babblings:** So there is the first half. I'd love it if you would review! Thank you!


	2. Part 2

Looking In

**Looking **_In_

_Part_ **two**

**Babblings**: Alighty, here's the second and final part to this story, revamped and edited. I hope you enjoy it. Please tell me what you think!

_**x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x**_

It's strange how so much good can come out of something so horrible. I mean, I still hadn't forgiven Sasuke, but I think me being hurt was worth it in the end. Destin was so amazing. He barely cried, just looked up at me and the surrounding world in wonder. He was curious about everything. I only had to wake up maybe once every night to make him fall back to sleep. For the first couple weeks, I hardly slept, staying up and checking on him constantly. Katherine laughed and called it "new mother syndrome". But I couldn't help it. If something happened to him, I really _would_ die.

A few months after Destin's birth, I found a job at the local diner. I hated the thought of being parted from my son, but I was starting to feel guilty for staying with Katherine and Sakura without paying anything. Sakura loved spending time with Destin though, so I didn't worry too much.

Destin seemed to grow up every day, right before my eyes. For his first birthday, we had a party and half the town came. I could tell by the look in Destin's eyes that he was going to be intelligent – just like his father.

One day I came home from work to find Destin playing on Katherine's ancient and out-of-tune piano. I ran back outside to sit on the porch swing in the fading day of late summer. Katherine came out a moment later. "Who's his father?" she asked, quietly, petting the head of a stray puppy who just liked hanging around us.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

She sighed and said, "I figured."

Destin crawled outside and plopped down at my feet, his arms reaching up. "Daddy," he said. I reached down and gathered him into my arms, crying. He had said his first word.

One day in the summer of Destin's fifth year, the diner was crowded with tourists. I had my hands full and my feet were starting to feel like they would give out at any moment. One of the waiters came to me and told me there was someone at table seven who was asking about me. I figured it was another person who would try to ask me out just like they did every day, so I was surprised, to say the least, when I saw who was really sitting there.

He hadn't changed at all. He still had that duck hair of his (it didn't make me laugh this time) and those distant eyes and that strong sort of aura around him.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I asked, trying to sound calmer than I actually was.

He looked up at me and held my gaze. "Katherine said I could find you here."

"I don't have the time and even if I did, I wouldn't want to talk to you."

Really, I wanted more than anything for him to pull me into his strong arms and tell me he loved me, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. And it was stupid of me to think about that anyways. The smart side of my brain told me that I really didn't want him to.

"I want to see my son."

Was that what it was? Had he come so he could take my baby boy away from me? Not if I had anything to say about it. "Absolutely not!" I bellowed, causing half the people in the restaurant to look my way. "You can't take him away from me."

"Naruto," he said, calmly, but warningly, placing a hand on my shaking arm. "I just want to talk to you. Can I have that much?"

"I have to go back to work," I choked out after a long, awkward moment. He asked me when I got off and I reluctantly told him. He grinned at me, told me he'd be back then, and waltzed out the door.

All the locals knew my story and were obviously wondering if he was the dad. The tourists were just confused. A few girls from both were smiling and saying "Isn't he dreamy?" How unoriginal. When I walked into the kitchen, the manager saw my distress and commanded me to take a break; they could handle things for awhile.

Outside, I wondered how he found me and prayed to a god that I wasn't even sure existed.

He came back exactly when he said he would. We walked in silence for the longest time in the dusk light. I didn't know what to do or say. Tears threatened to come to my eyes, but I wouldn't let them. I had cried over him too much already. "You look older," he said.

"I _am_ older."

"I know." We stopped walking when we came to the town park. He sat on the bench and motioned for me too follow.

"Why are you here?" I asked, still stubbornly standing.

"I've been looking for you for five years."

"Bull shit."

"I wasn't lying that day when I said I thought about you every day. Then again, I was kind of lying, because I thought about you every _second_."

"I want you to leave. I'm barely getting over you and I sure as hell don't want you to open old wounds. I don't want my son to meet his father once and then have you just leave again. That's not fair to him – or to me."

He didn't seem to know quite what to say to that. I thought that maybe he got the point and would leave, but instead, he said something that caught me entirely off-guard. "I want to stay."

"What?" I gaped.

"Please, Naruto. I want to be part of his life. And yours."

"No," I said, on the verge of crying.

"Just listen to me. Please." Reluctantly, I nodded and he continued. "That one day when I came to see you when you were still at Iruka's it was true that Iruka came and found me, but I myself had been looking for you for those seven months. I almost died when you saw me with Gaara. He had agreed to help me find you if I went on one date with him. Then you ran away. Both Iruka and I were looking for you. I spent all my free time searching for you, looking for any trace of where you had went. Iruka did too. Every time I went to the bus station, they wouldn't tell me anything. Finally, I just got pissed off and broke in. I found the record, but it didn't have a destination. So, I searched every town along the route, knowing that you very well could have been on the other side of the country." He paused, took a deep breath, waiting for my reaction.

I found that my legs couldn't hold me anymore, so I sat down on the bench, leaving a good amount of space between us.

"Why?" I asked softly.

"Because you did something to me that night."

I jumped up and glared at him. "Oh no, you are _not_ blaming this on me–"

He reached up and pulled me down on top of him, successfully shutting me up. Momentarily. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that you got into my heart. And then afterwards… well, you know. I followed my head, not my heart."

Now, I was pretty much scared out of my mind. I didn't want to let him back in. I had spent _years_ getting my walls built up and then he came back and I could feel them crumble, in spite of my attempts to keep them up.

"Please, Naruto, can I please see my son?"

I shook my head, hair getting into my eyes. "How do I know this isn't another one of your tricks? How do I know you aren't going to take one look at Destin, call me a whore, leave, and break my heart once again?" I tried squirming to get away from him, but he wouldn't let me. He was so much stronger than me. Instead, he leaned in and kissed me, softly, slowly, reassuringly. It was just how I remembered it. My heart fluttered painfully against my ribs.

And then he pulled back, that all-knowing smirk on his face. "That's how."

I scrambled to get off of him and rose unsteadily to my feet. My chest hurt at the feeling of my insides falling apart. "Please don't. I-I'll let you see Destin. Just… don't hurt us. And don't... do _that_ again."

He simply nodded and we made our way in silence back to the house. We stopped in front of it, our breathing heavy in the saturated heat of late day. "His name is Destin?" he asked.

I told him yes, pushing the gate of the white, picket fence forward.

Destin ran to meet me at the door. I smiled and picked him up. "Who's that, Daddy?" he asked, flailing his arms at Sasuke. When I didn't answer, he looked his other father in the eye and asked, "Da?"

I don't know how he knew. Really, I don't. He was really smart and the parent he got it from was finally in front of him. Tears fell from my eyes as he leapt from my arms and over to Sasuke. Suddenly, I felt very unneeded and unwanted. I slipped around back. Katherine was back there hanging laundry to dry, humming a tune I didn't recognize. She looked up. She always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. I loved her for it, because sometimes what I was feeling was so far beyond words.

"Is he here?" I nodded and plopped down in the grass at her feet. "So what are you doing out here?" She already knew what I was going to say, but she let me say it anyway.

"They don't need me."

Sighing, she sat down also and wrapped an arm around me. "You should have seen that boy's face when he came here the first time, asking for you. When I told him you lived here, his face lit up so much I could have died happy. There's only one word for that: love."

"He doesn't love me. He loves Destin. He _used_ me, Katherine."

"I know that, honey." She got up and finished the laundry, leaving it at that. She never pushed her point. I knew she wanted me to go inside. She knew I knew it.

I laid there on the soft, green grass long after she left, looking at the stars begin to come out. After awhile I heard the soft rustling of uneven feet on the lawn. Destin came and pounced on my stomach. "Daddy!" Absently, I ran my fingers through his hair as he settled in against my side. "I love you, Daddy." I smiled.

Being A.D.D., like all toddlers, he quickly lost interest and went back inside. I wondered if Sasuke was still there. I had been outside for a long time. He probably didn't notice or care.

Some time later, the screen door opened and Destin came out, grasping Sasuke's hand. I groaned and rolled over so I was facing away from them. I hated seeing Sasuke in my place. It wasn't fair. My stomach went into knots. Since when was the world fair to me? I felt like I was losing the one thing that kept me living. Sasuke was going to steal Destin away from me - intentionally or not. Of course Destin would like Sasuke more. Everyone loved him. What did I have that he didn't?

Nothing.

Before either of them could say anything, I stood up and announced that I was going to bed. No one stopped me.

I laid alone in my bed that night, feeling more hopeless than I ever had before in my life. There was a small knock at my door and Destin walked in, climbing into bed with me. He looked so perfect, curled up, asleep. I reached into the drawer of my night-stand and pulled out my camera. I took a picture of him, capturing the moment forever. Just in case.

The next morning, I woke up early, unable to sleep. Sasuke was down there already. He had his hand on the doorknob when I saw him. "Where are you going?"

He stiffened, turning to face me. "I'm leaving, Naruto." I picked up a glass, sitting harmlessly on the counter and threw it at him, but it shattered harmlessly against the wall beside his head.

"You bastard!"

He visibly cringed. "I'm doing it for you and your son, not-''

"_My_ son?" I interrupted. "Yesterday he was _your_ son and now he's _mine_? He's both of ours. What, is he not good enough for you?"

"No, Naruto, it's not like that at all! Destin is beautiful. I can't even begin to describe what he makes me feel - what _you_ make me feel. But you obviously don't want me here, so I'm going to leave before I cause any more damage."

Suddenly, something he had told me the night before came rushing back to me: how his heart had been telling him not to let me go, but he followed his mind and kicked me out. Right now _my_ heart was telling me not to let _him_ go.

I followed my head, watching him walk once again out of my life. But this time it was my fault.

I don't know how long I was standing there, staring at the door, but suddenly I felt a tug on my pants. Looking down, I saw Destin staring up at me with those wide, brilliant blue eyes. "Where's Da?"

At that, I started sobbing. I felt someone come up beside me and wrap there arms around me so I wouldn't collapse.

"Daddy?" More tugging on my leg.

"Shh… Naruto, you're going to be alright." Katherine set me down in a chair and I looked up at her through tear-clouded eyes. "You'll be okay."

I shook my head. Why did everything have to be so hard? And why was my heart hurting so horribly? Again. It happened again. And he broke his promise: he hurt us. I couldn't bear telling Destin his dad left again.

"Sakura, help me get him to bed." The pink-haired girl nodded and rushed to my side. I didn't feel like protesting as they dragged me back to bed. I was exhausted, emotionally and physically, so I quickly fell into a nightmarish sleep.

I was running, running, running, but I was getting nowhere. It was like an eternal treadmill, but I couldn't see the treadmill. All I could see was white. It was everywhere. Then I saw him. He just stood there. He didn't get any closer no matter how much or how far I ran. _Please_, my dream-self cried. _Sasuke, I-_

"Love you!"

I woke with a start, sweat dripping from my body. A small being moved on the bed beside me. Destin was there, curled into a ball against my side. He was small, even for his age. Unfortunately, he would probably end up with my body type. I glanced at the clock and about had a heart attack. I was supposed to be at work ages ago. Quickly, I hopped out of bed and ran down the stairs.

"Naruto, where are you going?" I stopped. "You aren't going to work today. I called in for you." I silently thanked Katherine.

She sighed and walked outside to sit on the porch swing. I followed her. "He wasn't trying to steal Destin from you." I knew that now. I had been selfish, but she wouldn't ever tell me that. After living with her for so long I knew her well enough. "You're Destin's mother-figure. He doesn't love you any less. He's just never known what it's like to have a father."

We sat there for awhile, rocking back and forth, back and forth, a soft breeze blowing through my hair. Finally, Katherine spoke again. "You love him, Naruto. It's so obvious that you do. I know he hurt you, but at some point you have to forgive him. Who are you to stop true love?"

I sighed. "I don't want him to hurt me again."

"Part of being in love is putting your heart on the edge, knowing it could fall at any moment and break into a million pieces, but trusting the person you gave your heart to not to let go. He won't hurt you again."

"It's too late."

"He has his huge annual concert in a week," she said, after a moment's concentration. "I can get you tickets."

My eyes went wide and I opened my mouth to say something, but she spoke again. "But that's all I'm doing, Naruto. I'm not going with you. You have to do this by yourself - with Destin."

Just then, Sakura walked up, hand-in-hand with another girl who had long, blonde hair, pulled up into a pony-tail. I vaguely recognized her, but from what I remembered, they hated each other. Sakura said a rushed 'hi' and then ran inside with the other girl in her wake. "When did that happen?" I sputtered.

Katherine smiled. "Awhile ago." Now that I thought about it, Sakura had been out a lot lately. It made sense. "Sakura and Ino hated each other from the moment they met. They fought over the same boy forever and they hurt each other horribly. Recently, they realized it was pointless. They were in love all along."

Why did I get the feeling she was trying to tell me something in that story?

For the next few days, I went back to my life. It wasn't the same. I knew what I would have to do in just a couple of days. Destin didn't ask me about his "Da". He seemed to know it would upset me. At night when I would come home from work, he would snuggle up next to me and then he would sleep in my bedroom instead of his own. In his maturity, he had long since outgrown sleeping with me. He was doing this because he knew I was lonely. Sometimes I wonder what I ever did without him.

One afternoon, Katherine came up to me and handed me two tickets to the concert. I was to leave early the next morning if I was to make it in time. It was the point of no return. I couldn't turn back now.

I woke Destin at 5 o'clock the morning of the concert. I lifted him into the car, which I had only recently bought, and then said good-bye to Katherine, Sakura, and Ino (who had pretty much moved in). For a long time on the drive there I was alone with my thoughts. I looked back to my little angel sitting in the back seat and wondered what would become of us.

Destin aroused sometime mid-morning. He talked to me in his five-year-old jabber and I was happy to listen. He told me about anything and everything from "Aunty Kathy let me help hang clothes yesterday, Daddy" to "and then I heard these loud noises coming from upstairs. It sounded like Sakura-chan was in pain. She was screaming and…" (Lord so help me, I would have to talk with those two when we got back.)

We arrived an hour before the concert was due to begin. I wasn't sure how the night was going to play out, but I wasn't going to rush destiny. Ironic.

It was more than a little crowded in the concert house, so I made a point in finding our seats right away. I clung onto Destin for dear life, lifting him into my arms so I wouldn't lose him. Our seats were right in front. Honestly, I have no idea how Katherine did it.

He was late. The concert was supposed to start fifteen minutes before. I began to panic. I lifted Destin once again into my arms and made my way backstage.

Of course, the security guard stopped me. What had I expected? I argued with him, telling him that it was a life or death situation. That's when I heard the voice - his beautiful voice. He was yelling at someone, saying that he couldn't do the concert. Then he saw me. Our eyes met and he glanced at our son. "Naruto?"

"You know this person, Uchiha-san?" asked the guard.

He nodded and a bold looked seemed to cross his face. "Yes," he said, reaching to pull Destin and me closer to him. Destin jumped into his arms. "This is my partner and this is my son."

Both the security guard and the man whom Sasuke had been quarreling with stared at him like the world had come to an end, even more so when he wrapped an arm around my waist.

The manager was the first to regain his speech. "Did you say 'Naruto'?"

"Yes," growled Sasuke, holding me tighter. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," he squeaked and they both hurried away.

"Why'd you come?" he asked me, softly.

"Shhh…" I said, placing a finger on his lips. "You have a concert to do. We have all the time in the world after that.

He grinned and leaned down, placing a chaste kiss upon my lips and handing a squirming Destin back to me. "Thanks."

The concert that night was beyond words. I almost wished Katherine were there so she would understand just how I felt in that moment. His amazing tenor voice and beautiful playing swept over the thousands of people who were there to watch him.

Afterwards, I waited around in the auditorium, not sure what to do. I fell asleep. Sometime later, I woke to the sound of shoes falling heavily on the floor. Glancing up, I saw Sasuke leaning over me. "Hey," he said, "want to come home with me? It's pretty late." I nodded and he picked me up as though I weighed nothing. I protested. Destin got a kick out of it. He dropped me in his convertible. "I have my own car," I said. He told me he would come get it the next day. Destin climbed into my lap. When Sasuke drove off, I thanked god I wore my hair in a braid all the time now.

By the time we arrived at his house, Destin had fallen asleep. It was a different house - not quite as big. He opened the door and took Destin from my arms, saying he was just going to put him to bed. I let him and slumped into a large chair in the living room.

"So why did you come back?" he questioned, coming back into the room.

I shrugged. "I just couldn't let you go again. No matter how much you hurt me, I still love you."

He grinned at me like a madman and pulled me into a comforting embrace.

He moved back with me after that. Katherine welcomed him, just like I knew she would. I didn't want Destin to grow up in the city I grew up in and Sasuke was okay with that. He said he needed a break anyways.

"Naruto?" I was shaken from my memories by Sasuke's voice. "Why are you still up? You should be sleeping."

"Sorry. The baby was kicking again."

He grinned, wrapping an arm around my waist and swollen belly. "You need to stop thinking so much. It can't be good for the baby."

I nodded, relaxing into his touch. I was pregnant again, but this time I had Sasuke with me. Okay, so we had our cliché beginning. But we don't quite have our cliché "happily ever after" yet. We're working on it, though. And, for now, that's all I need.

_**x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x**_

**Babblings:** So there's the last bit. It's not quite as long as the first part. Hope that's okay with you all. Personally, I am quite pleased with this (especially since I wrote it while having insomnia at 4 in the morning). Tell me what you think.


	3. Epilogue

Looking In

**Looking** _In_

**Epilogue: T**_e_a**c**_h_i**n**_**g**_ H**i**_m_ **t**_o_ L**i**_v_e

**Babblings**: Thank you guys so much for the awesome feedback I am getting for this story! I love you guys! Some of you requested that I write a sequel or an epilogue. I'm thinking about writing a sequel, but this short little babbling epilogue came to me in the wee hours of the morning. Enjoy!

**Destin's point of view**

_**x-x-x-x-X-x-x-x-x**_

I watched from the doorway this small display of affection between my parents. Parents. The word was still strange to me. I was used to having only one.

"Daddy?" I asked, padding quietly into their bedroom.

Daddy looked away from his partner and down at me. He smiled. "Come here, Destin," he said, scooting over on the bed as best he could. "I guess we're all awake tonight."

I looked at his stomach, placing my hands upon it, curiously. Questions spilled from my lips. "Did I look like that too? When is he coming? Will he look like me?" Daddy giggled, placing a slender hand over his mouth. "Oh!" I exclaimed. "I felt it! It moved!"

This time, my other parent laughed and grabbed me from behind. "Dad?"

"Quit patronizing your Daddy."

"Pat-ron-i-zing." I ran the word over my tongue, enjoying the feel of it. "What does it mean?"

"Don't you ever run out of questions, Destin?"

After a moment's thought, I shook my head. "Daddy always says I won't learn anything unless I ask questions."

Dad shot Daddy a playful glare. "What have you been teaching our child?"

Good-naturedly, he grinned and tilted his head back, letting out a small laugh. "I've been teaching him how to live."

With that, Dad leaned forward and kissed my Daddy right on the lips.

"Ew!" I cried. "That's gross."

"Someday, Destin," said Daddy, reaching out and taking my hand, "you will meet someone and suddenly everything you went through will all be worth it and you will never want to let that person go."

Eyes wide, I looked up at him, heart pounding in my chest. "I will?"

I saw them exchange a glance; everything was shown behind their eyes: love, lust, passion, and a reason for living. "You will." Then I reached and placed my arms around Daddy's stomach as well as I could, placing my ear to it. I could hear his heartbeat, loud, pounding, already with a will to live. I couldn't wait to have my little brother.


End file.
